‘How nurses are perceived versus reality’

Molly-Bray.jpg
Molly Bray

At the first lecture of my nursing degree, I was asked a question: “what is a nurse?” I imagined myself as a child in a nurse dressing up outfit with a pretend stethoscope and a toy injection.

At that age, I did not understand what to do with the toys or what they were, but I watched how nurses on TV programmes used them and I copied them, as this is what I thought a nurse’s job was.

“Children and people in society today do not understand the day-to-day role of a nurse”

The older I got the more I realised that a nurse’s role there was more than just cleaning up blood and stitching up cuts.

Children and people in society today do not understand the day-to-day role of a nurse. I asked a 12-year-old, “what is a nurse?”, and their response was “to make people better”.

As much as this statement is true, it’s far from truth of the reality of a nurse.

It is so important that every individual understands the roles, duties and challenges they face every day as a nurse and how it is not just about “giving injections and stitching people up”, but how a nurse is involved in every individual’s life from conception until death.

As part of the module, I was asked to display a creative way of my own depiction of a nurse, the first thing that came to my mind was to do a poem, which shows the many important daily duties and challenges of a nurse.

I wanted to show every individual that a nurse is there for you throughout every stage of your life (see box below for Molly’s poem, What is a nurse?).

Molly Bray, foundation year student, University of Chester

What is a nurse? by Molly Bray

What is a nurse and what do we do?

We care, we’re there and we look after you.

From cleaning up sick and giving out meds,

We even stitch cuts that are deep in your head.

We’re there when you need us 24/7,

From pre- and post-birth until you go to heaven.

A nurse is always there with a helping hand,

If you’re hurt and drunk we do understand.

A nurse can help you physically and mentally too,

Do not feel ashamed to ask for help we’re here for you,

Days can be sad and make us want to frown,

There’s always a colleague to turn it upside down,

We work as a team to get the best outcome,

At the end of the day, if we’ve helped one person, we know we have won.

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One comment

  1. Thank you for the access to the documents as it assisted me as we are reviewing our Nursing and Community Health Worker Program and in the time of the Pandemic Covid 19, the use of technology also applies to our situation here in Papua New Guinea.

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